Higher value e-orders from HK and China: Coremetrics

Carol Ko |
Jan. 30, 2009

Visitors spent more per online transaction than the global average order value in the last holiday season.

HONG KONG, 30 JANUARY 2009 Hong Kong and China consumers spent more per online transaction than the global average order value in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a new online shopping trend report.

Coremetrics, the US-based provider of online marketing and business optimisation solutions, yesterday released the Coremetrics Benchmark Report on online shopping trends in Hong Kong and China.

US$200 per order

Both Hong Kong and China buyers spent more on average than the global average order value. We even saw a slight increase in the average order value for Hong Kong buyers, said Tony Tsang, general manager of Coremetrics, Greater China.

The key findings of the report are:

• Hong Kong buyers' average order value for the fourth quarter of 2008 was US$198.66, 144 per cent higher than the global average order value.

• Order per 100 online sessions for China customers decreased slightly during the fourth quarter of 2008, while average order value dropped by 30 per cent to US$152.34 since its March to August 2008 report.

• Average Web session length for Hong Kong and China buyers shortened briefly by 11 per cent and 16 per cent respectively compared with the March to August 2008 report.

October - December 2008 online shopping highlights:

Summary

Global

Hong Kong

China

Average session length

5 min 4 sec

5 min 48 sec

6 min 31 sec

Page views per session

9

9

5.9

Average order value

US$81.26

US$198.66

US$152.34

Orders per 100 sessions

3.2

1

0.4

Hong Kong visitors' online shopping highlights:

Summary

October December 2008

March August 2008

Average session length

5 minutes 48 seconds

6 minutes 35 seconds

Page views per session

9

8

Average order value

US$198.66

US$191.76

Orders per 100 sessions

1

1

China visitors' online shopping highlights:

Summary

October December 2008

March August 2008

Average session length

6 minutes 31 seconds

7 minutes 46 seconds

Page views per session

5.9

6.7

Average order value

US$152.34

US$219.75

Orders per 100 sessions

0.4

0.5

China hit harder than Hong Kong

Tsang said: This suggests the tsunami' impact on consumer spending has not yet been reflected in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, the picture was rather different for China online shoppers. We saw a slight drop in orders per session, plus quite a significant drop in the average order value between October and December 2008 after the financial tsunami hit, indicating the impact on consumer spending was more significant in China.

Tsang said Hong Kong and China shoppers spent more time than the global average on a retail Web session in the fourth quarter of 2008, but there was a drop compared with the numbers from the previous Coremetrics Benchmark report from March to August 2008.